HEALTH & WELLNESS
A YEAR OF CHANGE AND
DETERMINATION
Rafael J. Sciullo
MARCH/APRIL 2021 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 121
We are extremely excited to
share our 2020 Empath
Health Community Impact
Report. This report outlines
the impact our comprehensive services
have on the community, the vast changes
and challenges 2020 created and our
determination to develop solutions that
allowed us to continue meeting the needs
of everyone we serve.
Through our network of care, specially
trained staff and volunteers team together
to care for hospice, home health, palliative
care, veteran and pediatric patients, aging
seniors and clients living with HIV/AIDS.
Additionally, we offer caregiver and
family support, medical decision-making
assistance, HIV/AIDS and STD testing,
health education, as well as grief and crisis
counseling. Services may be provided
in individuals’ homes, our specialized
facilities, or other residential and care
settings.
Every facet of our organization was
impacted by the pandemic. Our care is
provided primarily in face-to-face settings,
from medical care to grief support. Much of
our HIV testing happens in the community,
at large events, or with community
partners who invite us to their events.
Our all-inclusive elderly services offer
a very important day-center component
that helps seniors with socialization and
potentially two of their daily meals. Our
Suncoast Hospice Care Centers serve as
a home-like inpatient care setting when
patients’ symptoms or pain cannot be
managed in their homes. Our grief support
is provided in one-on-one or group support
settings All of these environments were
impacted by the pandemic.
When community-based HIV testing
events were halted, we began a hometesting
option where tests could be picked
up or delivered to someone’s home. Our
Suncoast PACE Adult Day Center had to
close, but we found new ways to engage
with our participants and began home
visits to help them continue receiving care
they would normally get at the Center.
Our Suncoast Hospice Care Centers had
to follow all CDC guidelines for health
care facilities, limiting visitors and closing
common spaces, but we made special
accommodations for guests and provided
them with personal protective equipment
(PPE). We had to stop our in-person grief
support and support groups, but we
quickly transitioned to online formats
like Zoom, so we could keep supporting
the community’s bereavement needs.
We also filmed some of our grief care
professionals addressing various topics
and made them available online. Our
care partner facilities had to keep pace
with ever-changing requirements early
on, making it sometimes difficult for us
to get in to care for our patients in those
facilities, but we partnered with them to
get ongoing staff testing that met their
specific requirements. Patients were often
concerned about letting our staff into their
homes, worried about the possibility of
exposure; but we helped assure them with
testing protocols, appropriate PPE and
supplemented their care with telehealth
visits. Loved ones who don’t live closeby
couldn’t travel to visit friends and
family members in their final hours, so
we implemented technology solutions that
allowed our staff to facilitate video calls
between patients and loved ones.
Even in the midst of the largest pandemic
in modern history, Empath Health was
proud to serve more than 4,000 people a
day, impact the lives of more than 34,000
individuals and provide $4.3 million in
uncompensated care to the community.
Nearly 1,200 employees, 1,700 volunteers
and $13 million in public support made
this possible.
As a community-based organization,
the ongoing trust and support from you,
our community, keeps us going strong,
and we are truly thankful. Not even a
pandemic kept you from helping us keep
our commitment to expert, compassionate
care for everyone we serve.
Please check out our full Community
Impact Report online at EmpathHealth.org.
Thank you for your support. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: Rafael J. Sciullo is president
and CEO of Empath Health, a nonprofit
integrated network of care for those affected
by chronic or advanced illness. For more
information about services, call (727) 467-7423
or visit EmpathHealth.org.
By Rafael J. Sciullo
/EmpathHealth.org
/EmpathHealth.org